Juniper Communities is an assisted living network dedicated to fostering active bodies, engaged minds and fulfilled spirits for their residents. However, communication was hard work for staff as the organization was relying on an outdated and unreliable PBX phone system. To continue providing industry-leading services, the organization decided it was time to modernize to a new IP communication solution.

Environmental Stewardship

Juniper Communities understands the importance of preserving our natural environment. Their Green Canopy program promotes healthier living for residents, staff and the community through various environmentally-conscious events and initiatives. Through the Green Canopy program, the organization has helped plant trees in the local community, organized fundraising events to restore fresh waterways in Florida’s coastal region, and care for gardens of flowers and vegetables every spring. Additionally, the Chatham location was one of the first retirement communities to embrace the green building movement; using LEED standards to design the building.

As Juniper Communities planned their modernization to IP, network infrastructure became a key challenge. Traditional network design philosophy would involve ripping-and-replacing the existing voice infrastructure with new Ethernet. Along with the extremely negative environmental impacts, the organization was concerned with the long deployment times and the disruption to their residents that this would cause. Juniper Communities required an innovative solution to overcome their challenges.

Change the Conversation; Improve the Outcome

Given the customer’s needs, Telecom Express was confident in recommending Modern LAN design – and introduced the customer to the NVT Phybridge PoLRE® solution. The PoLRE switch, with SmartPathPoE™ technology, enables Modern LAN principles and allows organizations to leverage their existing infrastructure, eliminating the disruptive, time consuming and costly rip-and-replace requirement. Juniper Communities was impressed and decided to test the solution in their environment. After a few simple setup steps, the PoLRE switch transformed their existing and proven voice network into a secure and robust PoE backbone for their new Polycom IP phones. The PoLRE switch extends PoE up to 1,200ft (365m) – 4 times farther than standard PoE switches – which ensured the customer could easily connect the new IP phones exactly where they were needed. Juniper Communities was able to responsibly modernize to IP, as they were able to:

Simplify their modernization to IP and eliminate disruption to staff and residents

“Our existing telecom system was aging, unreliable and becoming a huge liability”, said Don Breneman, Vice President of Risk Management and Business Operations at Juniper Communities. “As we planned the upgrade to IP, saving money while providing a high level of reliability and system management was important to our team. Luckily for us, Mark Janifer from Telecom Express introduced me to the perfect innovation from NVT Phybridge. I would highly recommend the PoLRE solution to any organization upgrading their communication system to IP.”

A Better Outcome for Juniper Communities and Telecom Express

Juniper Communities took a proactive approach to find new and better ways to support their IP modernization objectives in a financially and socially responsible manner. The organization was able to satisfy all the necessary infrastructure requirements without compromise, thanks to the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the solution. By applying Modern LAN principles and leveraging innovative switch technology, Juniper Communities was able to:

Reduce infrastructure costs by over $100,000; significantly improving the project’s return on investment

Accelerate the project’s timeline and eliminate operational disruption to staff and residents

Reduce the project’s impact on the environment; preventing over 650 lbs of e-waste from entering a landfill

Build a secure and robust PoE platform for their new Polycom IP solution

Find a no-compromise solution that satisfied all the customer’s requirements

Differentiate their market offering with thought leadership and innovation

Deliver a great user experience

Has your organization struggled to modernize to IP?

It’s time to change the conversation and apply Modern LAN principles to improve your outcome. NVT Phybridge has partnered with Telecom Express to help more customers replicate the success of this project. Learn more about Telecom Express.